Combination heating and cooling unit with condenser fan flue product exhaustion means



Sept. 9, 1969 1. o. FICHTNER COMBINATION HEATING AND COOLING UNIT WITH CONDENSER FAN FLUE PRODUCT EXHAUSTION MEANS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March l, 1968 Sept. 9, 1969 J. o. FlcHTNr-:R 3,465,816

COMBINATION HEATING AND COOLING UNIT WITH CONDENSER FAN FLUE PRODUCT EXHAUSTION MEANS Filed March l. 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet '1 Q NE 1x l Lg IWW 5Pf- 9, 1969 .1.0. FICHTNER 3.465,816

COMBINATION HEATING AND COOLING UNIT WITH CONDENSER FAN FLUE PRODUCT EXHAUSTION MEANS Filed March 1, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet f5 United States Patent O M 3,465,816 COMBINATION HEATING AND COOLING UNIT WITH CONDENSER FAN FLUE PRODUCT EX- HAUSTION MEANS .lames O. Fichtner, Greendale, Wis., assignor to Worthington Corporation, Harrison, NJ., a corporation of Delaware Filed Mar. 1, 1968, Ser. No. 709,690 Int. Cl. FZSb 29/00 U.S. Cl. 165--48 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A side-by-side forced air furnace and a cooling unit separated by a vertical ported partition within a unitary casing wherein the condenser section of the cooling7 unit serves as chimney and houses the condenser blower fan which, in addition to its operation during the cooling cycle, also operates during the heating cycle to evacuate to the outside atmosphere the collected products of combustion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates to a combination gas heating-electric air conditioning unit wherein novel means of venting the tlue products are employed. The condenser section of the air conditioning or cooling portion of the unit acts as a collection chamber or chimney for the products of combustion. To evacuate the products of combustion, the condenser fan, which operates in its normal capacity during the operation of the cooling section of the unit, is also operated during the operation of the heating section of the unit.

Description of the prior art As far as applicant is aware there is nothing presently available wherein, in a combination heating and cooling unit, the condenser fan is operated during the cooling cycle to evacuate to the outside atmosphere the collected products of combustion. Prior art patents of which applicant is aware include United States Patents Nos. 3,228,459, 2,816,423, 2,773,675, 3,251,406 3,326,276 and 3,270,804. All of these patents, however, lack, among other things, a showing of the use of the condenser blower fan during the heating cycle for evacuating the products of combustion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Pursuant to the present invention there is provided in a unitary casing a forced air, gas red furnace and an electrically operated cooling unit, the two being separated in the casing by a central vertical partition partially open along a marginal portion. The unit is installed in a room or building in a manner so that an opening in a wall portion of the unit registers with an opening in a building wall so that the flue products may be exhausted to the outside atmosphere. The unit is formed with a simplified duct and passageway arrangement, and the condenser fan is intended to operate not only when the apparatus is used for cooling, as is conventional, but to also operate during the utilization of the heating unit. The condenser fan will provide suicient air, mixed with the products of combustion, to nullify external wind effects and to also provide for suicient dilution of the ilue products so as to prevent the objectionable plume of vapor normally apparent under cold outside air conditions.

As still further object of the invention is to eliminate, in a combination heating and cooling unit, a special func- Patented Sept. 9, 1969 tion vent exhauster and to further eliminate the necessity for a vent/ combustion air terminal assembly.

Another specific object of the invention is to provide an air conditioning unit for both heating and cooling of such a character that the operation of the unit can be easily changed over from summer cooling to winter heating, and in which the unit, as an incidence of the above operations, discharges into the room or enclosure air which is filtered, humidied, and temperature conditioned.

Another more specific object of the invention is to provide a unitary combined heating and cooling apparatus wherein the conditioned air returning from, and delivered to the air conditioned room or area, is separated from the air for combustion.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an all-year combination heating and cooling unit which is very compact, which is easy to install and to service, which is automatic and efficient in its operation, and which is well adapted for the purposes set forth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, wherein the same reference characters designate the same or similar parts in al1 of the Views:

FIG. 1 is a front and side perspective view of the improved combination heating and cooling unit with the front panel removed to show internal components;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the right hand side of the improved combination heating and cooling unit showing the unit as installed in a building room against a vertical apertured outside wall, there also being arrow designations of the air ow patterns during the heating cycle;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the combination heating and cooling unit with the front wall or panel removed showing arrow designations of the air flow patterns during the heating cycle;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view through the left hand side of the unit with arrow illustrations of the air ilow patterns during the heating cycle; and

FIG. 5 is a view substantially similar to FIG. 3 looking at the front of the unit with the panel removed, only showing the air flow patterns dur-ing the cooling cycle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly to the drawings, it will appear that the forced air furnace, the cooling unit, the ducts and compartments to control and confine gas flow, and all of the appurtenances are assembled and conned within a sheet metal, rectangular casing designated generally by the numeral 10. The casing includes a top wall 11, an imperforate bottom wall 12, imperforate side walls 13 and 14, a front or inner face panel 15, and a louvered rear or outside wall 16. When the unitary casing 10 which houses both the furnace and the cooling unit is installed within a building room, it is intended that it be mounted substantially in the manner shown in FIGS. l and 2 wherein the numeral 17 designates an exterior wall of the building, and this exterior wall is provided with a vertically extending grilled opening 18 which is coextensive in height and width with the height and width of the casing 10 whereby the casing 10 registers with said wall opening 17 with the rear or outside wall 16 of the casing being preferably flush with the inside surface of the structure wall 17.

The interior of the casing 10 is divided into a right hand cooling unit compartment and a left hand furnace compartment by a central vertical partition 19 which is parallel to the side walls 13 and 14. The front margin of said partition 19, intermediate its upper and lower margins is olf-set inwardly (see FIG. 2) to provide an elongated fluid-flow vent 20. The cooling unit whose components are all contained within the right hand cooling unit compartment, includes conventional condenser coils 21 positioned immediately inwardly of the lower half of the louvered outside wall 16 of the casing in the path of air entering the casing from the outside. Additionally, the cooling unit includes a compressor 22, and a condenser blower fan 23 positioned in the upper portion of said compartment and registering with a louvered upper portion of the casing rear wall 16 and the building outside wall 17 so as to discharge air and gas to the outside atmosphere.

The forced air furnace, housed within the left hand side of the casing 10, is made up of a plurality of laterally spaced apart gas burners 24, each of which is enclosed by an upstanding metallic heat transfer hollow section 25, all of which extend upwardly relative to and communicate at their lower ends with an air-gas mixing chamber 26 housing a gas supply pipe 27 through which the flow of gas is controlled by a gas valve 28. Enclosing the upper enlarged end portions of the heat transfer sections to receive and collect flue gases emanating from, is a collector box 29 which is adapted to discharge through the upper portion of the parition vent 20 into the upper portion of the cooling unit compartment. The condenser blower fan operates both during the cooling and heating cycles and discharges to the outside atmosphere, as is best shown in FIG. 2. Within the furnace compartment side of the casing 10, over the collector box 29, is an evaporator coil 30 through which conditioned air passes. Such air is ultimately discharged into the room served by the unit through an air outlet opening 31 in the top wall 11 of the casing. Below the gas burners 24 is an indoor blower or motor driven fan 32. This blower draws air from the room into the lower portion of the furnace section of the casing through a suitable opening in the front panel 15 (not shown). This air, whether it is to be heated or cooled takes the path of the dot and dash line arrows in FIGS. 3 and 5.

Referring first to the cooling cycle shown in FIG. of the drawings it will be evident that during the cooling cycle the gas-tired warm air furnace is not in operation. Outside air cornes in from the exterior and passes through the condenser coils 21 and is unconned in the condenser section of the casing and is ultimately exhausted to the outside atmosphere by the condenser fan 23, which is in operation. This outside air, circulating in the condenser or cooling unit section of the casing cools the condenser coils and its path of travel is as is shown by the full line arrows in FIG. 5. Return air from the room being served by the unit is drawn into the furnace section side of the casing by the indoor blower 32 and takes the paths shown by the dot and dash arrow lines in FIG. 5 passing exteriorly of the heating transfer hollow sections 25 and ultimately through the evaporator coil 30 for discharge through the opening 31 in the top of the unit for circulation in the room to be cooled.

For the heating cycle, the only part of the air conditioning apparatus which remains in operation is the condenser blower 23 and in this respect the unit deviates from standard practice in that the condenser blower operates both during the cooling cycle and during the heating cycle. FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 show the air and gas ilow during the heating cycle, Some of the air within the condenser section of the casing is drawn into the furnace section of the casing as indicated by the full line arrow showings in FIGS. 2 and 3, this air passing from the condenser section into the furnace section through the lower portion of the vent 20 in the central partition 19. This air then enters into the heat transfer hollow sections 25 and serves to support combustion during the operation of the burners 24. This gas-air mixture, or the flue gas iinds its way from the upper enlarged ends of the members 25 for discharge through the upper portion of the vent 20 in the partition 19 and by virtue of the operation of the condenser fan 10 this ue gas entering the upper portion of the condenser section, as shown by the full line arrows in FIG. 3, is blown out through the registering openings in the upper rear wall and portions of the openings in the structural wall 13 as shown in the full line arrows, FIG. 2. Return air from the room, to be heated, enters the front opening (not shown) in the lower portion of the furnace section of the casing, and is directed by the indoor blower or fan 32 in the paths shown by the double line arrows in FIG. 4 and passes upwardly in the furnace compartment exteriorily the metal surfaces of the hollow sections 25 to be heated thereby, with the heated air being ultimately discharged through the top opening 31 into the room.

It should be mentioned that the condenser section of the casing which houses the cooling unit, acts as a collection chamber for the products of combustion, functioning somewhat as a chimney. The condenser blower 23, operating during the heating cycle, will provide suflicient air and combustion product mix to nullify external wind defects and sufficiently dilute the flue products to prevent visual-vapor which is the objectionable plume of vapor seen under cold outside air conditions.

As is conventional in apparatuses of the type under consideration there are tubular connections for the coils and condenser, together with electrical connections and controls (not shown) for the blower and fan. The air which is discharged into the room or area to be air conditioned (either heated or cooled) is, of course, maintained by chambers and duct work separate from outside air and gases of combustion. The system may include conventional lters, humidiers and cleaners (not shown). Also, as is conventional, the motor-operated blowers and fans have associated therewith thermostatically controlled switches. When a thermostat (not shown) calls for heating, the heating apparatus commences its automatic cycle. The condenser blower 23, as previously mentioned, also operates during this cycle. Proper timing for the indoor fan or blower 32 is automatically activated. Devices conventional in the art start the gas Iburners llames. The air used to support the gas burner flames is, of course, drawn directly from and exhausted directly to the outdoors, and during the course of its travel it is confined and prevented from commingling with the heated air which goes into the room. When the thermostat calls for cooling, the large volumes of air needed are moved and the refrigeration cycle is begun.

The improved combination heating and air conditioning unit with condenser fan means for exhausting the flue products is all `confined within a unitary casing and is compact. There is no possibility of the discharge or seepage of dirty or poisonous gases of combustion into the room served by the unit.

Besides providing for selective heating and coolings, the improved unit is easy to install in a building room adjacent an outside wall, provides for the ready accessibility of the interior components, is neat and attractive in appearance and is well adapted for the purposes described.

What I claim as the invention is:

1. A combination heating and cooling unit, comprising: a casing; a fuel-burning forced air furnace housed within one side of the casing; an air cooling unit housed within the other side of the casing; the cooling unit including a condenser blower fan for operation during both the cooling and heating cycles; a ported partition within the casing and separating the furnace from the cooling unit; means within the furnace side of the casing forming a passage for the conditioned air and a separate passage for the flue gases, the casing having an opening therein in communication with the conditioned air passage for discharging conditioned air into the space served by the unit, and the cooling unit side of the casing having an opening therein for the discharge of Hue gases to the atmosphere, the passage for the ue gases being connected with a portion of the partition port to conduct said gases into the cooling unit side to be blown by said blower fan through said flue gas discharge opening.

2. The combination heating and cooling unit recited in claim 1 wherein the cooling unit side of the casing is also formed with an inlet opening for receiving outside air which can ow through the ported partition into proximity to the furnace to support combustion and from thence into the llue gas passage.

3. The combination heating and cooling unit recited in claim 2 wherein the forced air furnace is a burnerequipped gas furnace with the means which form a passage for the ue gases enclosing the burners and being in communication with the partition port through which outside air from the cooling side of the casing flows.

4. The combination heating and cooling unit recited in claim 1 wherein the partition within the casing is vertical and is mid-way between the side walls of the casing and the port therein is elongated and vertically directed,

5. The combination heating and cooling unit recited in claim 1 wherein the passage for the conditioned air forms a common path of travel for either cooled or heated air.

6. The combination heating and cooling unit recited in claim 1 wherein the opening in the cooling unit side of the casing for the discharge of ue gases to the atmosphere is in the rear wall of the casing.

7. The combination heating and cooling unit recited in claim 6 wherein the rear Wall of the casing also has therein an opening for the entrance of outside air.

8. The combination heating and cooling unit recited in claim 1 wherein a front portion of the casing is also formed with a return air opening.

9. The combination heating and cooling unit recited in claim 1 wherein the rst-mentioned side of the casing houses an indoor blower and a wall portion of the casing has therein a return air inlet opening in registry with said indoor blower.

10. The combination heating and cooling unit recited in claim 8 wherein means are provided for maintaining the conditioned air both returning from and delivered to the area served by the unit, separate from the air which supports combustion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,773,676 12/1956 Boyle et a1. 165-48 3,251,406 5/1966 Lauer 165-48 3,385,351 5/1968 Ralston 165-48 ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner CHARLES SUKALO, Assistant Examiner 

